Legislative Session: 81(R)

Senate Bill 175 / Senate Author: Shapiro et al.
Effective: 6-19-09 / House Sponsor: Branch

Current law requires each general academic teaching institution in Texas to admit applicants who are Texas high school graduates or graduates of a high school operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and who graduate with a grade point average (GPA) in the top 10 percent of their class. Senate Bill 175 authorizes The University of Texas at Austin, beginning with admissions for the 2011-2012 academic year and ending with the 2015-2016 academic year, to limit automatic admissions under this law to fill not more than 75 percent of its enrollment capacity for first-time resident undergraduate students.

If the number of applicants qualifying for automatic admission exceeds 75 percent of the enrollment capacity for an academic year, the bill sets out a procedure for offering admissions based on the applicants' GPA percentile rank, starting with those in the top percentiles, up to the 75 cut-off, except that the university must offer admission to all applicants with the same percentile rank up to that point and must consider remaining qualified applicants in the same manner as other first-time applicants. A student admitted under these provisions must complete at least six semester credit hours during evening or other low-demand hours to ensure the efficient use of available classrooms. The bill requires the university to inform, via the school districts, Texas high school juniors and their parents by September 15 regarding the percentile rank of seniors anticipated to be offered admission under the 75 percent cap for the following year.

Senate Bill 175 prohibits the university from offering admission under the cap if by the admissions application deadline a final court order prohibits the university's consideration of race or ethnicity as a factor in admissions, or if such factors were not considered for the 2009-2010 academic year; from considering an applicant's legacy status as a factor in admissions; and from referring to the 75 percent cap in any communication as the reason for denial of admission unless the number of applicants qualifying for automatic admission fills 100 percent of the university's enrollment capacity designated for first-time resident students. The bill also restricts the number of nonresident students offered admission to the university to not more than 10 percent of the university's enrollment capacity for first-time undergraduate students for an academic year.

Senate Bill 175 requires The University of Texas at Austin to submit an annual report to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives regarding its progress in the specific areas enumerated in the bill, and it requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to develop and implement a program to enhance general academic teaching institutions' outreach to high-performing high school seniors who are likely to be eligible for automatic admission and to prescribe best practices guidelines and standards for such student outreach. The bill also requires the coordinating board to publish an annual report on the impact of the 75 percent cap on the goals in the state's higher education plan.

Senate Bill 175 provides for the automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution of a transfer student who completes the core curriculum at a public junior college or other public or private lower division institution of higher education with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 on a four point scale, who graduated from high school not more than four years before the academic year for which admission is requested, and who either graduated in the top 10 percent of the student's high school graduating class or was previously offered admission by the institution under the top 10 percent law.

Senate Bill 175 expands the notice requirements regarding the automatic admissions provisions by requiring each district to provide each district student written notice of the substance of the top 10 percent law at the time the student first registers for a class required for high school graduation, to provide written notification regarding a student's eligibility for such automatic admission to each high school junior who has a GPA in the top 10 percent of the student's class, and to provide the latter notice to the student's parent or guardian as well as to the student. The bill requires a certified school counselor to explain the automatic admissions requirements to each high school student with a GPA in the top 25 percent of the student's class at the beginning of grades 10 and 11.

Senate Bill 175 establishes a scholarship program to encourage attendance at public institutions of higher education in Texas by outstanding high school students graduating in the top 10 percent of their class. The bill sets forth the initial eligibility requirements for a scholarship as well as requirements for a student's continuing eligibility, prescribes limitations on a scholarship's amount, sets out an application procedure, establishes criteria for determining the required satisfactory progress for continuing eligibility purposes, and provides certain exceptions to that requirement for hardship or other good cause. The bill requires the coordinating board to disseminate general program information and program rules and entitles each institution awarding a scholarship to reimbursement by the coordinating board. The bill also requires the coordinating board to develop a higher education assistance plan requiring each public high school in Texas that is substantially below the state average in the number of graduates who attend institutions of higher education to provide prospective students with enrollment information and assist students in completing admissions and financial aid applications.